Autumn, 2005 had no sooner begun at 5:23 p.m. Thursday, than the heavens opened, slamming the northwest suburbs hardest. Hail, some of it the size of quarters, peppered an area from Palatine and Algonquin east to Winnetka. The wind gusts which swept Palatine downed trees 40 feet tall and eight inches in diameter while multiple downpours left 1.52” at
Arlington Heights and 1.50” at Wheeling. The late day storms followed a flurry of morning cloud-to-ground lightning strikes and loud thunder which punctuated Thursday morning’s rush hour.
Unseasonably warm air helped fuel Thursday’s storms. Highs hit 87° at O’Hare, 89° at Midway and 93° at south suburban Kankakee.
An autumnlike chill settled over areas to Chicago’s west prompting the first frost warnings of the season in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as Upper Michigan.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
